Nato investigates claims of civilian deaths during Libyan raid

Libyan government claims Nato missile struck house in residential Tripoli, killing civilians, including two children

Pictures – shown to the media on a guided tour by the Libyan government – of a residential neighbourhood in Tripoli, where civilians were reported to have died during a Nato raid. Photograph: Mohamed Messara/EPA

Nato is urgently reviewing the details of its weekend bombing missions after the Libyan government claimed one of its missiles had struck a house in a residential area of Tripoli, killing a number of civilians, including two children.

If confirmed, the attack would be the biggest blunder by coalition forces during the four-month campaign, and a PR gift for Muammar Gaddafi at a time when Nato has been trying to increase the tempo of military operations against the Libyan leader.

However, Nato officials were by no means sure it had been responsible for the alleged bombing in the Souk al-Juma district of the Libyan capital – the area was not being specifically targeted and the coalition has nobody on the ground to verify what the Gaddafi regime has been saying.

The Guardian understands that investigators are focusing on French aircraft that were flying over Tripoli to target a potential missile site. RAF planes were not thought to be involved.

Nato was debriefing the pilots who flew sorties on Saturday night and Sunday morning, as well as reviewing data gleaned from their aircraft, to establish whether one of their missiles had hit the three-storey house by mistake.

A Nato official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was confusion over the exact location of the explosion, and pointed out that the district in question was an anti-Gaddafi stronghold.

Wing commander Mike Bracken, a Nato spokesman, said: "Nato confirms it was operating in Tripoli last night, conducting air strikes against a legitimate military target.

"Nato deeply regrets any civilian loss of life during this operation, and would be very sorry if the review of this incident concluded it to be a Nato weapon."

Reporters based in Tripoli were taken by government officials to the scene of the blast and then to a hospital, where they were shown the bodies of four people said to have been killed in the strike, including two infants.

Associated Press said journalists were escorted back to the site during the day, where children's toys, teacups and dust-covered mattresses could be seen amid the rubble.

Foreign journalists in Tripoli are not allowed to travel and report freely and are almost always shadowed by government minders.

Libya's deputy foreign minister Khaled Kaim said: "There was intentional and deliberate targeting of the civilian houses. This is another sign of the brutality of the west."

Nato appeared to strike the capital again on Sunday afternoon. A number of explosions could be heard in the city, and smoke could be seen rising over the southern part of the capital.

Nato's military campaign has come under renewed scrutiny in recent days, with rebel commanders saying the alliance is not doing enough to support efforts to topple the Libyan dictator.

However, military commanders have privately expressed frustration about the present stalemate, saying that Nato's mandate is not to act as the rebels' air force.

They also concede that they have run out of obvious targets, and are having to rely on precision weapons to take out Gaddafi's command and control centres, which have been hidden in public buildings, such as schools.